Mayor Mitch Landrieu on Tuesday (Aug. 22) announced the city has formed an interim emergency management and support team for the Sewerage & Water Board as a replacement for executive director Cedric Grant. Although Grant had been scheduled to stay on until the end of hurricane season, Landrieu's office said Grant's retirement took effect Tuesday.

The emergency management team leaders will provide administrative, financial and technical capacity to the Sewerage & Water Board through the end of hurricane season, the mayor's office said. Members of the team are Paul Rainwater, Terrence Ginn, Renee Lapeyrolerie, Ehab Meselhe, Owen Monconduit and Robert Turner.

"The new interim emergency management and support team will supplement the leadership already at Sewerage & Water Board as we fix the infrastructure and stabilize the organization," Landrieu said.

Landrieu seeks rapid reforms at the troubled Sewerage & Water Board, which has been in crisis since Aug. 5 flooding ravaged neighborhoods citywide and a power outage the following week greatly diminished the city's flooding capacity. Landrieu has sought the resignations or retirements of four top officials, three of them at the Sewerage & Water Board, and Grant's forced retirement created the need for outside help.

Gov. John Bel Edwards also issued a statement along with the mayor's remarks saying "the state stands ready to further assist the city of New Orleans as this interim emergency management and support team comes online to fix the serious issues with the sewerage and water management facing the city."

Residents will likely remember Rainwater's role helping various localities and the state recover from hurricanes. He's being brought in for administrative and managerial support. Ginn will provide finance and human resources support to the S&WB.

Lapeyrolerie is being brought in to oversee government relations and improve communications for the board. The communications at the board were seen as a key problem after the flooding Aug. 5, when S&WB failed to communicate about pumping outages and manpower issues.

Meselhe and Monconduit are each providing engineering support, with Meselhe also providing scientific guidance and Monconduit focusing on contracting and procurement for emergency repairs. Downed turbines that provide power to pumping stations, as well as pumps offline at several stations around the city have been a continuing challenge for the city.

Turner is being brought on to propvide technical expertise on stormwater management and drainage.